2012 British Open Betting Odds And Preview

It’s been a feast or famine type season in 2012 on the PGA Tour for Tiger Woods. Woods has won three times, but also has two missed cuts. And while two missed cuts might not seem like a lot, for a player who once made 142-straight cuts, and just has nine missed cuts in his career, it is. To put that into perspective, Phil Mickelson has 63 missed cuts. But as the calendar flips now to the 2012 British Open, the state of Woods’ game is once again at the top of the discussions coming into the third Major championship of the season.

Woods is coming off of a missed cut two weeks ago at the Greenbrier Classic, but that hasn’t deterred oddsmakers from naming him the favorite to win the Open Championship this week from Royal Lytham & St. Annes.

The No.4 ranked player in the world and FedEx Cup Points leader thus far in the season is going off at 8/1 to win his fourth British Open. Woods’ last British win came back in 2006, the second of two-straight Open victories.

That would be Lee Westwood and Luke Donald, two of the top-three ranked players in the world. In fact, Donald continues to hold onto that No.1 ranking, despite the fact that he has not yet won a Major championship in his career. The same can be said for Westwood, who has been closed numerous times, including at the British Open. But neither have been able to break through, with the odds setting them both at 14/1 to get that first Major. Both players hail from Europe, and conventional wisdom would suggest that it would be a very good opportunity for either one.

Four months ago, Rory McIlroy was the hottest player in the world, taking the No.1 spot from Luke Donald. But recently, McIlroy has not been playing as well as many expected. Still, the No.2 ranked player in the world is going off at 16/1 to win his second career Major. McIlroy has not performed well in Majors this season, never contending at the Masters, and then missing the cut at the U.S Open as the defending champion.

Padraig Harrington, the 2007 British Open champion rounds out the top-five favorites to win the British Open, going off at 28/1.

Below, we have the full field 2012 British Open Betting Odds as seen on Bovada, so be sure to check them out if we didn’t mention your favorite golfer in the field to see how they stack up.

Coverage of the British Open gets underway on Thursday morning at 5am ET on ESPN.